Sexual Assault

Someone in America is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds. Sexual assault is any kind of non-mutual sexual activity, from subtle to violent. This can include rape, sexual threats and intimidation, incest, sexual assault by partners, child sexual abuse, sexual trafficking, sexual harassment, street harassment and other forms of unwelcome, coerced or non-consensual activity [CALCASA]. Assault…

On November 14, two anonymous plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit against Uber in the Northern District of California. The suit, filed on behalf of all women who have suffered sexual assault at the hands of Uber drivers, alleges the company’s lax driver screening endangers women on a daily basis. According to the lawsuit, “Since Uber…

California state Senator Connie Leyva is trying to put an end to secret sexual assault and harassment settlements. Currently, if a lawsuit is settled out of court, the terms can include signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that effectively silences the victim from ever discussing the case. Senator Leyva wants to put an end to this…

While it can be challenging to find recent, reliable statistics about the number of drug-assisted sexual assaults, the prevalence of social awareness, the proliferation of new club drugs that double as date-rape drugs, and the lack of widely available drug detection devices have all contributed to a recent rise in date rapes facilitated by chemicals.…

A case that hit the news in June of 2017 – the arrest of Uber independently-contracted driver Alaric Spence– expanded as the LAPD put out a request in late September for additional alleged victims to come forward. The case moving forward involves a passenger falling asleep in Spence’s vehicle, only to awaken hours later in…

For modern children, who have a myriad of afterschool activities and likely two working parents, the adult they spend the most time in a day with is probably a teacher. It is reprehensible when any adult betrays the responsibility owed to protect a child, but particularly so when the infringement is abuse of a sexual…

It has been quite a few years since the media was filled with daily stories of childhood sexual abuse allegations against priests within the Catholic Church. However, a recent article in USA Today demonstrates that this is an ongoing issue that continues to impact the church and the alleged victims. USA Today reporters recently uncovered…

California lawmakers are reportedly seeking to expand the state’s legal definition of sexual assault by changing the felony sexual battery statute to include the act of “stealthing.” Most people have never heard of this behavior, but it a serious concern, leaving men and women in fear of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Stealthing…

The United States Department of Justice estimates that hundreds of thousands of rape kits sit untested in law enforcement laboratories across the nation. Finances contribute heavily to this backlog, with each kit costing about $1000 to test. Though California lawmakers have made several attempts to jumpstart the testing process, efforts have thus far proved inadequate…